National Inclusive Employment Policy for People with Disabilities

 

Thematic Tags: Disability Rights, Inclusive Employment, Disability Inclusion, Right to Work
Initiative Launch Date: July 2024

Status: Ongoing

Summary

Unemployment rate for People with Disabilities in Lebanon stands at 85%, despite the existence of Law 220/2000 aiming to promote their social protection and economic development. The Lebanese government failed to implement effective disability inclusion policies, despite signing the UNCRPD in June 2007 and ratifying it officially in 2025, therefore, persons with disabilities are left deprived of their basic rights, particularly employment.

 

Therefore, arcenciel drafted an Inclusive Employment Policy for People with Disabilities to reinforce the implementation of the right to work. This activity is implemented under the BINA’ project sub-grants, funded by the European Union and managed by Transparency International (TI) Secretariat and TI-Lebanon

 

The first draft of the employment policy was released in May 2024, and the final draft was released in July 2024. Four roundtable discussions were conducted in August 2024 including different stakeholders from ministries, employers, leaders of inclusion, OPDs, CSOs, 3RF, INGOs, and NGOs with a total of 78 persons. During these roundtable discussions the draft policy was proposed and discussed. A final draft was released in July 2024 taking into consideration all the comments and recommendations suggested during the roundtables.

 

The final draft policy was formally submitted to both ministry of Labor and ministry of social affair on the 19th of February 2025.

Effort Overview

Question	Details
What was the reform challenge?	Lack of an inclusive employment policy and weak enforcement of law 220/2000 undermine the right to work of persons with disabilities.
What was the civic strategy or action taken?	Drafting a policy, presenting policy to 53 stakeholders (Employers, Leaders of Inclusion, Ministries, OPDs, INGOs, NGOs and CSOs) during 4 roundtable discussions, revising policy, submitting final policy to Ministry of Labor and Ministry of Social Affairs.
What agencies were targeted?	Ministry of Lebanon, Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Public Administrations, Organizations of Persons with Disability, NGOs and CSOs, Employers, Leaders of Inclusion (Representative for Persons with Disabilities), INGOs and Funding Agencies
What reform priorities does it relate to?	Right to Work Section 8 in Law 220/2000 articles 68-77, UNCRPD article 27 work and employment

Key Partners & Coalition Members

Type	Name(s)
Lead NGO	arcenciel
Supporting actors	LCD, LFD, LUPD, LULB, FDA, LASA, EDAN, YAB, HI, TI, WFP, GIZ, WRF, ILO, PU, ICRC, Step Together, IRADA, Tripulley, Adyan Foundation, Mouvement Social, Shareq, NEO, MOL, MEHE, CRDP, MOSA, R&A Program, Upgrey, Snowball, Social Work Syndicate, L’oreal, Fig Holding, Mindnavy, Bossa Nova Hotel, Ladkani, IABC, LOM, MSD, Association of Lebanese Industrialists, etc.